Evidence-Based Practice Implementation in Stroke Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review of Barriers and Facilitators

Despite advancements in stroke rehabilitation research, occupational therapy practitioners still face challenges with implementing research into routine practice. Although the development of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is one critical step along the knowledge translation continuum for the population of people with stroke, research is also needed to identify the most effective strategies for implementing EBPs with stroke survivors who are receiving occupational therapy services.

To synthesize research related to occupational therapy practitioners' implementation of EBPs in adult stroke rehabilitation.

We searched four electronic databases-CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Academic Search Complete-and the peer-reviewed journal Implementation Science to identify relevant research studies.

Studies that met the following inclusion criteria were included in the scoping review: published between January 2003 and January 2018, addressed the adult stroke population, and examined the implementation of occupational therapy interventions. Data were abstracted on the basis of recommendations from the seminal review framework established by Arksey and O'Malley (2005). Thematic analysis identified themes that emerged from the included studies.

Twenty-five articles satisfied our inclusion parameters. Our analyses yielded three overarching themes: barriers to implementation, facilitators of implementation, and implementation strategies. Implementation strategies often consisted of multimodal knowledge translation training programs.

Although the stroke rehabilitation literature appears to have established the barriers to and facilitators of EBP implementation, greater attention to the identification of effective implementation strategies that promote the uptake of EBPs by occupational therapy practitioners is needed.

This article summarizes the contextual factors and effective strategies that may influence practitioners' implementation of stroke research findings in real-world practice.